


Exposure

by Blazing_Creampuff



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 06:29:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2763110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blazing_Creampuff/pseuds/Blazing_Creampuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The details had changed, but the game had not. Or so I thought. I was to bring mother the girl. This girl in particular, and I didn't know the reason until now. Now that I had witnessed it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ex·po·sure\ik-ˈspō-zhər\  
> Noun  
> : The fact or condition of being affected by something or experiencing something.  
> : The condition of being exposed to something.  
> : The act of revealing secrets about someone or something.

_This isn't my first time attending a Ball, but at 18 my attendance today has more significance. I can feel his eyes burning into me. I usually attract my fair share of attention. From both men, whom are only interested in marrying a young girl to inherit their name and bear their children. And from women, whom question their sexuality in secret. But this was different. This man had a predatory look in his eyes. As the the guests separated in preparation for the dancing, I made my exit. I moved through the bodies as best I could. My dress was clearly not made for grand escapes._

_I finally make it out the front entrance. As I get further from the Ball, the darkness engulfs me. It is now pitch black. I try to return to the mansion, but it is no longer behind me. No matter how fast or far I run, I can't find any sign of life. Until I see him, swiftly moving in my direction. I try to get away, but I'm just running in place. He grabs my arms with inhumane strength and holds me in place. His eyes have a hunger behind them and before I can question what it means, he goes after my neck. He sinks his sharp fangs in and I feel him draining the life from me. My heart beat slows down until it is no longer present. And then he drops my limp, life less body to the hard ground._

I wake up suddenly and find myself sitting in the back of the limo my mother sent for me.

The driver has the partition up, but I can hear them speaking to another person. I'm pretty sure professional drivers aren't supposed to have anyone in the front passenger seat, but I could care less. Their conversation did manage to catch my attention for the time being.

“Perr, will you at least talk about it with me?" That's the driver.

"No, I expect you to do all the talking."

"And why is that?"

"Doing this was your idea."

"I know, but experiments are done knowing one can fail."

"Yes, I understand that sweetheart. But one does not continue an experiment when they know they have already failed."

Although their conversation is interesting, the voices are unfamiliar to me, so I don't bother to keep up my eavesdropping.

After so many years I still hate taking orders, but this has to be done. I grab my phone from my bag and open it to look at the picture again, 'Laura Hollis' typed underneath it. She looks like the typical targets in age. Kind of cute in her own way. But I still don't understand why mother is so fascinated with her. She usually doesn't go through this much trouble for the sacrifice. Sure, there were a few times when I would have to go to a different city to get girls. But considering we come back every 20 years to do this, the chances of anyone recognizing us at Silas are practically non-existent. So why is she sending me to a different location when there is no risk here?

That is the question.

But I know better than to ask about maman's motives. And besides, she has promised this would be my last task. I can finally stop taking part in this sick tradition and move on once I bring her this girl. I can make a fresh start and try to live a normal life. Well, whatever normal is for a vampire anyways.

The limo finally comes to a stop at the airport. I let out a long exhausted yawn and stretch my arms.

“Do you think she knows?" The passanger says, she sounds very uptight.

“She can't know......well she doesn't, not yet."

"Should we tell her when she'll see us again?"

"It wouldn't change anything."

"It would give her comfort."

"I guess, but we shouldn't."

I'm tempted to ask whether or not they're talking about me, but that passes after a few seconds. The trunk opens up, but the driver makes no move to get out and help.

“Whatever." I mutter to myself. I don't have any time to waste. I get out and grab my bags.

As the car pulls away I take one last look at my plane ticket. “Why Canada?" I ask myself before making my way inside.


	2. Chapter 2

It's been a week.

I have been basically stalking this girl for a whole week. I would have gladly snatched up the little cupcake sooner but mother failed to mention the girl was being watched over.

He's young. Both in the sense of looks and how long he's been a vampire. He's a few inches taller than me. Black hair, medium build. In another world he and I could pass as siblings.

The guy is never closer than 3 feet from the target, but he is extremely overbearing. He always makes himself known whenever someone tries to get close to the girl. It's safe to say she has no friends here. Neither of them live on the school campus. They stay in this giant mansion together.

It's a beautiful place, but there are bars on the windows for Christ's sake. It's meant to keep her from escaping, that much is obvious. I figure the human isn't stupid enough to try to escape from a vampire though. After all, her watcher does trust her enough to attend school and not make a run for it.

She has shown her dislike of him though. I've witnessed them arguing, while making sure to keep my distance of course. The girl despises him, but she's also afraid of him. I wonder how she'll react to me. Not that her opinion of me matters, but it would still be nice to know.

* * *

 

I heard the watcher make plans to go out with his friends today and I decide to finally retrieve the girl.

I wait until he's out of sight before I make my way to the door. I already know he locks it, so I grab the fake rock that is set off to the side. I take out the key from it's hidden compartment and unlock the door.

Once I'm inside, I start searching for more information on this girl. I want to know why she's so fascinating. While looking through drawers in an office, I find medical records. I'm not a doctor, but from what I can gather she's pretty normal. And perfectly healthy. There isn't anything else particularly interesting among the paperwork so I move on to the next part of the house.

I reach a locked room.

There are strange engravings on the doorknob that I've seen before. I take out the key from my pocket. The key my mother gave me. It has the same symbols on its grip. I use it on the door and it unlocks.

I walk into what seems to be a very small personal theater. There is a big collection of movies lined up on a shelf against the wall, and a projector in the back. I make my way to the shelf and examine the DVDs. As I get closer it's clear that they are not movies, they're personal recordings. The spines of their cases are each marked with a year. I pick out one of the last ones. It's from 8 years ago. I make my way to the protector. I turn it on and insert the disc into the DVD player connected to it.

I grab the control and press play.

At first all I see is a small room, it doesn't look like any in this house. I take a good look at it. The walls are covered in pictures of New York. The skyline, Time Square, Coney Island-she finally comes into frame. She's significantly younger, barely a teenager. She walks up to one of the pictures. She sets her hands in the middle of it. She looks like she's going to rip the poster in half. She pulls her arms apart, and something strange happens.

I can see New York.

At first it's a static image of it. Black and white, barely recognizable. But then this opening engulfs the room, and she's in Times Square. It only last a few seconds. She's in the middle of the street and a taxi is rapidly approaching her. Right as she's going to get hit, she closes the....portal?

Whatever it is, it's now gone and she's back in the room. Its looks no different from how it did in the beginning of the recording. I pause the video.

“What the hell was that?" I ask myself as I make my way out of the room, I leave everything on. “I'm not gonna bother trying to figure it out. I have a job to do."

I go upstairs and find a large doorway. I hear soft piano music coming from the other side.

The girl must be in there.

I gently open the two heavy doors and walk inside. I'm on a balcony. I take a look around and realize I'm in their library. I go to the railing and look at what's below me. There she is. She's in the far corner to the left sitting on a couch, her full attention on the book she's reading. I quietly go down the stairway.

Once I reach the bottom platform, I look to where she was sitting. Emphasis on was. “Where the hell did sh- fuck." I say as I feel something come in contact with the back of my head. I turn around and see a massive book now lying on the floor. I look up and see her grab another one from the shelf.

“Who the hell are you!?" She throws it. “What are you doing here!" She grabs another one. “Why are-" I use my speed to grab her hand before she has the chance to fling it at me.

“Maybe if you'd stop throwing every dictionary you own at my head I could maybe, just maybe answer your questions. Did you think about that spaz?" She squints her eyes at me. “I'm not here to hurt you." To make my point I let go of her hand.

She gives me a skeptical look before setting the book down on a nearby table. Her eyes never leaving me.“You're one of them."

It takes me a second to realize what she's talking about. “What? A vampire?" She nods. “I'm not like the others. Like I said, I'm not here to cause you harm. I'm here to help you escape."

She gets closer to me and looks me up. Her eyes hold mine and she starts speaking. “What makes you think I need saving?"

I lift my eyebrow at her question. "So, you spend all your time here by choice?"

“No," She huffs out in annoyance, . "but who are you?"

“Carmilla. Carmilla Karnstein. I'm your knight in shining armor, cutie." I extend my hand.

She blushes slighlty. “Well, I guess it's nice to meet you Miss. Karnstein." She says while shaking my hand.

“Hollis!?" We both hear her watcher scream. She drops my hand.

“It's Will, you have to hide." She whispers before screaming back to him. “I'll be there in a second."

She tries pushing me into the bathroom but I stop her. “No, we're getting out of here."

“The only way out of here is the front door. I highly doubt he's going to let you just walk out of here with me."

We hear the door open upstairs, and a second later see Will standing in front of us. “This should be fun." He says before charging at me.

He tries to grab my throat. I dodge out of the way, and he loses his balance. I lunge for him and twist his arm up his back. He groans in agony when I apply more pressure. I kick the back of his knee and he collapses. But he grabs my arm and pulls me down over his shoulder. My body makes contact with the hard wood and he makes his move. He straddles my waist and gets a firm grip on my neck.

Before he gets the chance to pull my head clean off, he gets knocked unconscious. This girl grabbed a marble buff and made sure to make contact with his skull. I get up from under him and she drops the heavy statue to the floor.

“Is he..." Her hands are shaking at her side as she stares at his body.

I look over at him. “He's not, but if we don't get out of here now he will wake up and kill us both." I tell her.

She seems to compose herself. “Give me a second." She runs over to where she was seated earlier. She grabs the book, and makes her way back to my side. “Ok, now we can leave."

I don't bother asking why she's bringing the book. “Come on." I say while going back up the stairs.

She keeps up her pace with mine until we pass the room where I had watched the video of her. “I always wondered what was in here." She sees herself on the projector screen. “He was watching me?" She turns back to face me with angry tears in her eyes. “Why was he watching me? What am I?"

I get a strange twinge in my gut, but I push the feeling back. 'You are not to attack nor get attached to the targets' I repeat my mother's words in my head. “You're the girl that's getting out of here." I grab her arm and lead her the rest of the way out of the house.

Once we're at a safe distance I tell her to stay put. I turn to go back in the house but her grip on my wrist stops me.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm destroying that place while that asshole is still in there. I can't take any risks." She gets a look in her eyes that I can't quite figure out, but she still nods and lets go of me. "Ok."

I didn't have to, but I made sure to set fire to every last one of those videos.


	3. Chapter 3

"Fuck." I groan out as I stumble out of the smoke filled house. I make it about ten feet away, before my body gives out and I'm hunched over on the ground. I may be centuries old, but inhaling smoke is a bitch whether you're a vampire or not.

The girl immediately comes to my side, and puts her book down. “Oh my God, are you hurt?" She's rubbing my back and using her other hand to move hair from my face.

"I'm fine. I'm also not a child, could you please stop?" It comes out a bit harsh, but she doesn't seem very effected by it.

She removes her hand from my back, picks up her book, and stands up. "So," She starts speaking again and I finally sit down. She doesn't continue so I look up at her and raise my eyebrows in question. She looks away and goes on. "So, while you were in there some frat guys said there was a party on campus. I was wondering if you would mind if I-"

"Go. I'm not a babysitter, besides I could use a minute to myself."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." She gives me a quick hug. "It's not that far, I'll be back. I promise." I watch her disappear in the direction of the school.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" I drop my head into my propped up hands.

Never in my life had I seen something like that. Her gift is...bizarre. I still don't have the slightest clue what my mother has planned. Whatever it is, it's not going to be pleasant. That much I am sure of. But it doesn't matter. After the girl is in her possession, I'm getting as far away from Styria as possible.

Once I can properly breathe again, I go to find the girl.

It doesn't take me long to find the frat house. Ζ Ω Μ is proudly being represented on every male body within 20 feet. Outside, the place is crawling with numb skulls getting wasted, and proclaiming their drunken love to their 'bros'.

I walk into the house that is almost shaking from the bass emitting from the speakers. Inside it's surprisingly more under control. There are people dancing and drinking, but they're tame. I spot her by a keg in the back. She's with this kid who looks like an overgrown puppy.

"We have to go." I yell over the music.

"Hey, sexy lady. No need to leave just yet." The frat boy says in response.

"Can we please stay? Just a little bit longer?" She gives me a pleading look.

"The name's Kirsch." He holds out his hand but retracts it when I don't shake it. " Um, so anyways. I am a designated Zeta Omega Mu safety companion. It is my duty to keep the ladies safe. I promise nothing bad will happen. "

"Please?" She says and accompanies it with a bright smile. I almost give in. But then I remember how much time I have already wasted while waiting to retrieve her.

"We can't." Her smile drops. "I have to get you to New York." She perks up again at that.

"Really?" Her smile is even bigger than the one before.

"Yes, but we have to get to my hotel first. I have to get everything in order." I tell her.

"Yeah, of course." She turns to the frat boy. "It was nice finally talking to you."

"Same here little hottie."

She grabs my hand and leads me out of the house.

"Ok," she lets my hand go, "where to?" She holds the book to her chest.

I open my mouth to talk but I'm interrupted by some blonde girl grabbing my arm.

"Lilly?"

I'm utterly confused and shake my head at her. "I have no idea who you are looking for, but it's not me."

"Oh." She keeps studying my face. "You look just like this girl I knew." She says before shrugging and walking away.

"Well that was weird." The brunette at my side says.

"Yeah." I try to shake the weirdness off.

I'm positive the girl is drunk, and probably wouldn't recognize herself in a mirror. But for some reason it feels like I know her.

It was probably just deja vu.

As we start making our way towards the street I take my phone out. "I hope you don't mind cabs, cutie."

"Not at all."

We stop walking once we reach the front of the school.

I can feel her eyes on me the entire time I'm on the phone. I hang up and turn to face her. “Do you always stare this intensely at people?"

“How old are you?" She says while squinting her eyes.

“Over 300 years old."

“How old were you when you were turned?"

“18."

“Where are you from?"

“What's with the 20 questions?" 

“I just want to know more about you." She says softly. I guess she can tell I'm getting irritated.

“Listen, sweetheart, the less you know about me the better off you'll be."

 “Okay." She says and takes a seat on a nearby bench.

* * *

 The cab ride is quiet. But when we get to the hotel, she starts speaking again.

“So, this is weird but um.." She stops talking when I go towards the elevator.

“What?" I say as I press the button to call it.

She shakes her head and finally makes her way to me. “Don't you need to book me a room?" The elevator opens up and we get in.

“No." She gives me a weird look. “I made sure to get a room with two beds ahead of time." I say while pressing the floor number.

“Oh," she laughs a bit, “I almost thought we had to sleep together." I raise my eyebrows at her and her cheeks flush bright red. “Oh God, not like that. I mean it's not that you're not hot, cause you are. But, um damn it. That didn't-" The elevator opens up and I start walking out with her behind me. “That didn't sound like it did in my head, that's all."

“I know what you meant, buttercup. But you look kind of adorable when you get flustered, so I let you keep rambling." I unlock the door.

It closes behind us, and she smacks my arm. “You're a terrible person."

“And you're in need of a shower." I say as I sit on my bed. “Towels are in the bathroom. And," I point to the small dresser where she set down her book. “I keep my sleepwear in the top drawer, you can borrow something of mine until tomorrow."

“Are we leaving tomorrow?" She asks excitedly.

“No, we're going to get you more clothes. I didn't exactly plan to destroy everything you own."

“Oh, alright. Makes sense." She takes out a black tank top and flannel pajama pants, before making her way into the bathroom.

Once I hear the shower start I grab my phone from the nightstand and I send my mother an email updating her. It's around 9 in the morning in Styria, it shouldn't take her long to respond. She's expecting this.

I look down at my clothes and remember everything I had just done for this girl....Correction, for my mother. I destroyed everything she's ever had, except for that book. I destroyed it all, and for what?

False hope.

This poor girl has no idea what's really going on. My phone's screen lights up and I unlock it to find maman's response.

**"Make it a priority to ensure she makes it here safely. She's very valuable to me. And my darling girl? Try not to destroy this opportunity for yourself. I know you have a soft spot for the humans, but if you ruin this for me it will end worse than the last time you tried to defy me."**

“What are you doing?" The brunette says over my shoulder.

I quickly exit out of my messages. “Just arranging our flight."

She walks over to her bed, and sits down. “New York, right?" She says while towel drying her hair.

“Yeah," I say while looking at my phone again, “New York."

* * *

 I watched her drift off to sleep, she went to bed with a smile on her face. While I stayed up with the guilt eating away at me. Because soon enough she won't be smiling anymore, and it will be my fault.


End file.
